Eating & Thinking…..

Well Memorial Day has come and gone so I guess it’s officially “Season”. However, we are still playing with food and using unsuspecting guests as guinea pigs.

Now many of you know that at Aysgarth (and in our own kitchen) we try to use local, scratch and organic food stuffs. Very little is premade here and if it is we tend to know more about it’s origins than you might want to!

Crown of Maine is a grass roots distribution co-op for Maine Organic Farmers and products made from Maine ingredients. Crown covers most of our meat and cheese needs and fresh produce including my beloved Ramps and Fiddle heads. I guess they are my “farmers market” that delivers. It was a joy to discover Crown of Main as our local Farmer’s market is Sunday mornings and that just doesn’t fit into the B&B concept – maybe I could introduce DIY breakfasts on Sundays to go shopping myself.

I posted this picture on our Facebook page recently in pure celebration of getting these freshly (and sustainably) foraged beauties (not sure how they got this approved, but they did so happy, happy, joy, joy!). I only discovered these two seasonal gems on moving here to Maine and they herald the arrival of Spring – and boy was it slow in coming this year!

Anyway, it got me pondering on food and our local agricultural economy.

Our license requires us to obtain food from licensed producers, so it’s a bit more complex than just feeding ourselves. Companies such as Crown of Maine and Native Maine Produce and Specialty Foods are essential to my being able to provide you with the food I want to serve – no Sarah Lee danish here – and support my Local Economy. We also participate in a Community Farm Share from Heart of Eden Farm right here on MDI (I’ve waited a couple of years to get onto this one) and participate in HUB of Bar Harbor’s Healthy Main Streets Program through Steve’s job at the Town.
(http://http://www.healthyacadia.org/news/4_12_13.htm)

Of course having “waxed lyrical” about all this wonderful food, let see how I handle it all come summertime when everything kicks into high production – maybe you’ll find a complimentary bunch of Kale to welcome you to your room!